Ballyhoo Garwood Advised to Update Ords. Per NJ Housing Laws

Page S-10
Thursday, October 16, 2014
goleader.com/ballyhoo
Ballyhoo
Garwood Advised to Update
Ords. Per NJ Housing Laws
New Jersey
Sports, Humor and Commentary
By BRIAN TRUSDELL
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader
Paul Lachenauer for The Westfield Leader
SIPPING AND SHOPPING...On Friday night shoppers strolled up Alden Street
in downtown Cranford during the Cranford Junior Women’s Club “Sip &
Shop” event.
Cranford BOE Discusses
Personalized Learning
By CHRISTINA M. HINKE
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader
CRANFORD — The board of education at its open work session
meeting Monday discussed how
it could advance its personalized
learning approach in the classroom, a mission that was instituted six years ago.
At a recent Professional Development School (PDS) meeting, a
discussion was led on personalized learning and real-world experiences and it “asked us how
we define each of these,” Superintendent of Schools Gayle
Carrick said, and how it correlates to “achieving our core mission.”
“One of the things we thought
we would do this year is demonstrate how we are achieving this
mission,” Superintendent Carrick
said.
During an administrative retreat, Superintendent Carrick
said a video showed a personal
project where high school students were charting their own
education program, and Ms.
Carrick suggested applying that
to the kindergarten through fifthgrade classes. “As one example,
using the media specialists to
actually facilitate that type of
work for our children,” Superintendent Carrick said.
Another example came from a
fifth-grade teacher, Rosie Sholz,
who wrote a letter to Superintendent Carrick, who read the
letter aloud.
Ms. Sholz suggested making
her classroom a pilot classroom.
Ms. Sholz asked her fifth graders
what they might want to study.
They suggested topics such as
the effects of global warming,
building a hovercraft, creating
models of the Titanic and brainstorming ideas of how to save
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GARWOOD – A planning consultant hired by Garwood has
recommended the planning
board and borough council work
quickly to update its ordinances
and operations to comply with
expected new state fair housing
regulations, a move that would
require adding two new positions.
Consultant Jill Hartmann, who
said she has worked on New
Jersey’s Council on Affordable
Housing (or COAH) regulations
for 15 to 20 years, made the
suggestions at the October 8
meeting of the planning board,
which was attended by the entire
borough council.
She urged the actions to prevent developers from using noncompliance to force the borough
into accepting unwanted highdensity housing projects.
“I think that providing affordable housing is maybe something that the municipality is looking to do to meet its obligation
and also to protect itself,” Ms.
Hartmann said, responding to a
question from Councilman Jim
Mathieu about the need for her
suggestion. “Because what you
wind up with is a ‘builders remedy’ lawsuit many times that has
more (units) than the municipality is required to have under the
rules and regulations.”
Builders remedy rulings have
resulted in permitting developers construct projects larger than
desired by towns. Arguing that
the municipalities need to meet
COAH requirements, the developers include the COAH requirements in the projects, but say
that to make them viable they
need more units without income
restrictions.
Among other things, the new
regulations would require the
addition of a “housing liaison”
and “administrative agent.” Ms.
Hartmann said in most towns
she has dealt with, that already
have the positions in place, the
tasks are assigned to individuals
with other administrative or clerical duties.
Several members of the board
– as well as all but two council
members – questioned Ms.
Hartmann about the regulations,
including whether the two new
positions could be handled in a
shared services agreement with
another or other municipalities.
She saw no reason why that would
not be possible.
The regulations are part of a
periodic update by COAH, which
was established as a result of the
New Jersey Supreme Court’s
1975 Mount Laurel ruling. That
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Reading is Good For You
Brian Trusdell for The Westfield Leader
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GETTING IN COMPLIANCE...Planning consultant Jill Hartmann, center,
addresses the Garwood Planning Board on October 8 regarding the borough’s
compliance with the state’s Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations. The board is expected to approve a new COAH plan for the borough in the
coming months.